"Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains the apparatus— the bureaucracy, the police, the military-- the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others.” Simone Weil, Reflections on War, 1933

09 July 2015

As I mentioned the other day, this is now the kind of market where it makes sense to take profits if you have them, and hold more cash until the mispriced risks resolve themselves. I am holding mostly cash and precious metals for myself, and am looking carefully at a couple equity plays along the lines of the precious metals, but not with any particular conviction. This market crisis needs to resolve.

The biggest drivers of global risk are the collapsing China asset bubble and the inherently unstable governance of the Eurozone, manifesting as it is now in Greece, and all the uncertainty that this brings.

But Spain, Portugal and Italy face similar challenges. German hubris is destroying the Eurozone which itself is not a particularly durable model of organization economically and politically.

One of most difficult issues is the unreliability of the media and the political and economic class to tell the truth, particularly as the quadrennial power struggle called the Presidential elections approaches. Spin and deception are flying hot and heavy. And unfortunately most of the captains and crew of the ship are busy packing goods into their personal lifeboats.

Speaking of unsustainable, take a look at the spike in new unemployment claims and the high continuing claims number in the US economic data. And the Fed is still biased towards raising rates, and continuing to pump the top down stimulus into a broken system. Madness.

As for the Congress and the Administration, politically the US has not been this badly led for quite some time, and I vividly remember the Nixon years.

So, let us protect ourselves, both financially and spiritually, with an eye towards the things that really matter. This is really all one can do for now.

Le Propriétaire

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Need Little - Want Less - Love More

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.

"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack even on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A credibility trap is when the managerial functions of a society have been sufficiently compromised by corruption so that the leadership cannot reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without implicating a broad swath of the powerful, including themselves.

The moneyed interests and their aspirants tolerate the corruption because they have profited from it, and would like to continue to do so. Discipline is maintained by various forms of soft financial rewards and career and social coercion."

These are personal observations about the economy and the markets. In providing information, I hope this allows you to make your own decisions in an informed manner, even if it is from learning by my mistakes, which are many. As a standing policy I never provide individual investment advice to anyone. I will only occasionally disclose my personal positions for purposes of illustration. Understand that my own circumstances could differ greatly from your own, and therefore what is suitable for me may not be suitable for you. My comments are intended to be reflection on general macro financial and economic events and trends.